Meet Tommy Bear
He was a Fake News research analyst in both the UK and USA. His disabilities included degenerating legal blindness with resulting migraine and reduced mobility. He was a member of the UK sales committee. In his early days at Fake News Symposium he was a top ten speaker. Later, he was removed from Cannes Symposium and never allowed to present again. What happened? Fake News found interesting ways to confront his disability. So much for Equal Opportunity and the ADA. They won’t tell you about this at Fake News Symposium but it will be all the buzz at Fake News Shareholders Meeting. Watch this space.
The British Invasion
Tommy Bear was very popular in the UK with invitations to present to clients and colleagues. Armed with his doctoral degree from Columbia University New York that was admired by British clients and his insights into global diversity and process design, his was a unique skill set.
Despite and probably because of his success, he felt that his supervisor, Eva Diva was jealous. Even colleagues noticed how she belittled him and played hardball to prevent him meeting with them and clients. “Usually we have no problem getting support from Research but Eva makes it her business to block us,” said one UK account manager.
Tommy was at his happiest in the UK, away from the bullying in the US, and it showed in his enthusiasm, passion and teamwork. But Fake News US management went after him.
American revenge
Eva was blunt. She told Tommy, “I don’t like it when you’re in the UK.” It cramped her style because, poor at planning and preferring instant communication to suit her whims, time differences meant she could only contact him three hours a day.
One day, Eva told him he could no longer expense internet in both the UK and the USA. A strange instruction from someone who once asked him if he knew the way around prohibited expenses. They don’t tell you that at Fake News Symposium. Exaggerating expenses was a dismissible offense.
Tommy emailed HR to check what was expected. HR confirmed that cost cutting meant he could only expense one internet at a time. No recognition was made of Tommy’s use of his own apartment with significant saving on hotels. A surprisingly prompt reply from an HR department that had still to reply on the context of his UK compensation package if he moved there and ADA accommodations for him to return from disability leave.
Because domestic internet, unlike hotel and plane Wi-fi, is sold as a continuing utility not a pay-as-you-go product, Tommy ended up paying for his UK internet for himself.
He secured senior management agreement to allow him to transfer to the UK. Twice he emailed Fake News HR to request terms and conditions. They have yet to respond. It has been twenty years. They don’t tell you that at Fake News Symposium. Perhaps he’ll get a response one day. Watch this space.
Perfectly single
Eva had little concept of personal boundaries unless they involved family. Not being at work to take children to school for example, was acceptable. Being single meant being constantly on call. Her weekly status meetings would turn into rants that went on without specifics. She never documented expectations for her own follow up actions from the meetings.
At one meeting convened while he was on disability leave, she told her direct report, Tommy Bear, that as a Fake News MVP she expected him to be perfect. “I see no reason why you can't be perfect.” They don’t tell you that at Fake News Symposium.
Then she told him, “I expect more of single people.” They don’t tell you that at Fake News Symposium either.
She probably thought her expectations were acceptable as she herself was single. Apologies to Eva. Apologies to Fake News. It was neither acceptable nor legal. Not in a meritocracy and not under the ADA.
Tommy had disabilities. The ADA prohibits setting higher expectations of individuals with disabilities versus their peers. Eva’s expectations were discriminatory.
This meeting with Eva scared Tommy. The expectation that he should be “perfect” because he was single seemed unreasonable. It did explain though why he was never upgraded despite an EEOC-mediated career plan. He spoke to the EEOC and they recommended that he ask two questions as further expectations were set of him. Were others being held to the same standard? Was he being discriminated against?
Continued in Impromptu performance planning below.
Impromptu performance planning
Eva called Tommy Bear at 2 pm one afternoon while he was on disability leave. She said she was calling to set his performance plan. She did not ask if the time was convenient. The meeting was not pre-arranged, no time was blocked, no context was set and the documentation she read had not been sent to him in advance. She ignored his disability leave status and his right to accommodations under the ADA.
As she completed dictating each objective to him, he asked the two questions he had been advised to ask by the EEOC following her admission of having higher expectations of single people. To the first, are others also expected to do this? she responded each time, “I don’t know.” To the second, “am I being discriminated against?” she replied each time, “I can’t have this conversation.” After the third objective was dictated, the call ended abruptly followed by an email from Eva to Tommy alleging without investigation, substantiation or disciplinary hearing that he was on written warning for “putting the phone down” on her.
Fake News shareholders have asked Fake News legal representatives to investigate how and why an individual on disability leave was treated like this in contravention of employment and human rights legislation and despite impending mediation of Tommy’s complaints to the EEOC. The incident seems so bizarre that fraud is suspected. They don’t tell you that at Fake News Symposium. Fake New’s response is awaited. Watch this space.
Swan song
After Tommy’s last formal client presentation, days before he went on disability leave, he met with Fake News conference attendees. They discussed their human capital management interests with him and he was able to engage them for much of the evening. Sadly, the informal interactions are not reflected in conference ratings.
At this point, Tommy was expecting a note from Eva confirming his FMLA disability leave, a legal requirement prior to sanctioning disability leave. He never received it. They won’t tell you that at Fake News Symposium. Shareholders question why, as Tommy started disability leave, he received no kudos and no FMLA documents. Watch this space.
Shoot the whistleblower
Tommy Bear filed complaint against Fake News with the EEOC. Fake News agreed to mediation only if Tommy would agree to their agenda which was to set the terms for his termination. There would be no hearing of the complaint.
The EEOC were concerned about the legality of the proposal but asked Tommy Bear if that was what he wanted. Scared, he asked the EEOC, “What will Fake News do if I say I don’t want to be fired? I just want the constant discrimination and incessant bullying to stop. I want the benefits I pay in for. I want my civil rights. I want to be treated like the protected employee that I am.”
The meeting did not take place and Fake News fired him anyway - right at the same time as he was on disability leave. They don’t tell you that at Fake News Symposium.
Fake News shareholders have demanded that Fake News explain why the company attempted to use the EEOC to fire a whistleblower for being a whistleblower. Watch this space.
Before you go
A couple of days before his termination went into effect, Eva called Tommy. He hoped she was calling with news about his disability payments. No, that never happened. She was calling for hard copies of expense documents which he had not submitted while on disability leave. She also wanted any unpublished research that he had prepared.
The termination letter that he had signed two weeks before stated that he had to destroy all documents relating to his employment so he wondered why she was asking for them now after he had signed the NDA? Why didn’t management convene a project review meeting to go through everything as they had said they would? Concerned that this might be a last minute form of entrapment to discipline him for the second time in a four week period, he told her that everything had been destroyed. She said she wasn’t sure that she believed him. It was apparent that the situation had deteriorated to the point that neither one of them trusted the other. Fake News shareholders have asked, never mind expense receipts and draft research, what did happen to Tommy’s eleven years of unpaid disability pay? They don’t tell you that at Fake News Symposium. Watch this space.